New Ulm weekly review., 1887-09-21

manner toward each other, now were
rapidly drifting toward enmity. De-
vinte riedl to conceal the passionate
jealousy that estranged him from Har-
old, but his gayety was forced, his
once genial laugh rang hollow, to my
ear, at least, and as for Harold Char
ters, cool. brave, earnest Harold.
Well, when not out walking or riding
Or driving with Miss Ely-he seemed
to prefer solitude and his dreams to
the company of any one. 1t panied
me the way matters were going. I
was older than any OF them, and /
knew and liked them all Yes, even
the perverse cause OF all the mischief.
Yet, as an old friend of the family, I
determined to give Queen Belle a good
talking to. seized the first oppor-
tunity to do this one rainy morning
the quaint, lazy old library. There /
caught my lady dreaming and moon
ing over new book OF poems (Thom-
as Moore's, by the way, and just pub
lished).
"'You donotknowwhatyo re do
ing Child, Child 1 began, trying to
speak with due sternness, yet how
could a man be severe when two, such
beautiful, dark gary eyes met ones
steady gaze SO innocently?
Why, my dear friend, yes, indeed,
think I know quite well,' she replied
as calmly as possibly; Il have. been
reading some of the most beautiful
poems ever written, and at the present
moment I am talking to very intel
ligent gentleman, but one who is, par
don me, at all times a little eccentric
"'Come come; no nonsense. my fair
Queen Belle said. You purposely
| misunderstood me- Irefer to your
conduct in thus encouraging two y oung
men. once dear friends, kutnom ready
to cut each others throats, simply
because both OF them happen to be
madly in love with a very lovely but
very capricious, coquetrish young la
dy. Choose between them, Belle. and
the sooner the better; but don't
encourage both or YOU will regret
your careless folly. Pardon me-.
dear child, 1 speak only for your
fathers nearest friend. Choose be-
tween thenn- OF course | added,
playfully, we all can see that your
choice will light upon that golden
haired young Apollo, Capt. Devine'
"Indeed,' she replied, with flash
in her eyes that gave the lie to her
assumption Of Indifference. How
very kind and wise you all are, to be
sure, but suppose should happen to
choose neither Capt. Devine nor his
friend, cannot lady receive the lit
tie courtesies OF society without peo-
pies turning it into a tragic or desper-
ate love AFFAIR."
"tAlas, Isabel, I answered her sad
ly. DO not speak after that fashion
for at heart you are too true; yes,
too noble a woman to thus trife
with words. You know that both OF
those mon love you, and that it has
| broken their lifelong friends hip.
Young Devine, indeed, wears his heart
so plainly upon his sleeve that all
can see who will. AS for Harold:
"sYes, as for Harold Charters well,
what OF hlm?' she said, turning
her proud little head, with it's coronet
of dark braids, aside for an instant.
Was it my fancy or did the dark
fr:nges droop consciously and shyly
over her eyes?
s"'What OF him, child? Why, simply
this; slight, slight thing to a shallow
coquette, but to a true-hearted wom-
an-everyt thing. He loves you with
all his heart; I am sure of it. He
would die for you if necessary, to-
morrow answered.
"'Die. die she repeated, half pet
tishly. 'Oh, they all can tell the sto-
ry very smoothly and we'll. Who
wants him to die for me? When it
comes to living consistently and un-
selfshly for a woman's sake-a much
better, kinder thing than dying for
her-see what miserable failures the
ma jority of our ardent lovers are.
Doctor, did you ever notice how in
different men become once sure that
they have won you? Look at the
nonchalance OF even the kindest hus-
band compared to the eager devotion
OF even the most cruelty ill-treated low
er. No. Mems love can we'll be COM
| pared to the reindeer-it thrives best
upon the scanty growth of poor
rocky soil, and the moss upon which
most any other creature would thrive
is the food most suitable for it.
| S'AAA AAoo ANACV ACc1Oy ~ OCCO110
patient Griselda. Yet if ever am
ready, and if a man is dying to know
whether I love him OF his rival, whv
let his wit search out some way to
discover my feelings toward him, as a
woman's intuition would. / shall
certainly not fall into his arms simply
because my lord holds them out to
me. Please lecture no more, my old
and dear friend. You are man and
should know that men love the chase,
and that when its object is too readily
won it soon loses all it's charm to
them
.'It was plain that in the face Of
such worldly wisdom as displayed by
this little philosopher two and twenty
all argument was useless, and so |
said no more, and let matters drift,
uneasy though I continued to be-.
What could do or say? How ex-
| I L =